Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Just over a month since I released BLACK HOLE SMILE and the response has been pretty great. Getting the cassettes together took a lot longer than I had anticipated but they are finally ready and I'll be mailing them out this week. Big thanks to everyone who ordered one - your patience is very much appreciated.MELTDOWN is a show on CKCU 93.1 FM (Carleton University campus radio here in Ottawa) that specializes in heavy music and is the longest running show of its kind in Canada. Dimitris and Marcus invited me on the show a couple of weeks ago and were very gracious hosts. We talked about all things TSTAT and played a few cuts from the new album. You can hear an archived version of the show right HERE!

A couple of BLACK HOLE SMILE reviews...

The first is care of WONDERBOX METAL. Very cool review. TEMPLE OF THE DOG and NINE INCH NAILS are both mentioned. This person really has my number. Check out the review HERE!

The second is care of THE HEADBANGING MOOSE. An excellent, song-by-song breakdown of the album. Very nicely done. Check it out right HERE!

I just became aware of an artist by the name of VIDNA OBMANA. Real name DIRK SERRIES, he went by the VO pseudonym throughout the 80s and 90s, putting out incredibly dense and dark noise collage-type stuff, mostly cassette-only releases. He's got a bandcamp page up that covers a lot of the releases he did back in the day. Check it out right HERE! Also, be sure and check out what he's currently releasing as DIRK SERRIES, especially if you want to be lulled into submission by the best ambient music this side of STARS OF THE LID. He even did a collaboration with JESU last year, seek it out! DS bandcamp page right HERE!

Lastly, CRAIG SMITH. Read his fascinating and tragic story HERE, then have a listen to a few of his albums HERE. Hippie trail, my ass....